Big Brother society

[funkyrich]

Are we heading for an orwellian Big Brother state? With more and more surveillance cameras about and a goverment seemingly intent on introducing I D cards whether we like it or not,is this the slippery slope to George Orwell's nightmare? I have heard the comment"If you've got nothing to hide,then you have got nothing to worry about", but I still think they would be an erosion of civil liberties.

Besides if the ID cards didn't deliver the desired effect(defeating the terrorist) what would be introduced next? Microchipping the population?

[Peter Pedant]

No I am one of the crazies that think that the cameras have made us freer !

Yup - you have a right to the footage under the Data protection act, and there have been numerous instances of funkyrich's or PP's story being corroborated by film footage.

Part of the looseness and chaos that has been associated with the aftermath of the London bombings seems in my opinion to have been due to the fact that everyone's supa-dupa new phone is also a viddy

[jenstar]

Microchipping the population is bound to happen. Twenty years ago the widespread use of CCTV was something that was so unthinkable that it could never ever happen. Ten years ago biometric ID cards were so unthinkable that they could never ever happen. I confidently predict that microchipping the population will be seriously considered within the next ten years, and well underway within fifteen.

So the answer to your question is yes.

[Tabby]

I think we are not far off 24/7 tracking of everybody today. Why? All mobiles could be tracked for location. Shop transactions by cards say where we were and what we bought. Cameras on the road automatically check cars for tax discs (plus time and location).

To me the worrying point is not so much how the data is collected, but how it could be used. I understand a large amount of credit card frauds are inside jobs (selling of card numbers). Could the info from telephone companies be used to track what time you leave your house and return every day? Great for criminals!!

[Tabby]

Try reading http://fly.hiwaay.net/~pspoole/echelon.html

The truth is out there!!

[funkyrich]

Thanks for your thoughts and comments people.Lets hope,for all our sakes,that this big brother state never gets started.